This invention relates to a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. More particularly, the present invention uses multi-media to coordinate production arrangements between a CNC machine and its operator.
The machining industry is one of the most fundamental industries of industrial and developing countries. It is an industry that has a direct impact on almost all manufactured goods. The technological advancement of the machining industry, from a short-term impact perspective, has a direct bearing on the quality of goods, the durability of goods, the production capability of goods, and the desirability of goods. From a long-term impact perspective, the technological advancement of the machining industry has a direct impact on the competitiveness of a country""s product in the world market. The present invention is a major breakthrough in the concept and methodology of the machining industry that will revolutionize the manufacturing base of U.S. industries.
Ever since the industrial revolution, many manufacturing bases of U.S. industry embraced manufacturing cost savings based on the economy of scales. Depending upon the state of technology at any moment in time, many manufacturing bases of U.S. industries established manufacturing plants that are optimized based on mass production only to be limited by the technology of the day. From this background, the conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing have been established. With the advancement of computer technology, the conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing are becoming more outdated with each passing day.
Take the furniture manufacturing industry for example, the conventional concept and methodology teach batch and specialized productions, where each production line manufactures only one of many parts that are required for a desired piece of furniture. This concept and methodology is anchored upon amortizing machine setup times over a long period of time. The advantages of this concept and methodology are increased production efficiency, low per part cost, and simplicity of manufacturing on each production line. The disadvantages of this concept and methodology of manufacturing are high initial investment cost, large warehouse storage requirements, heavy transportation cost, high man-hour labor requirement, and complex record keeping. This conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing is only viable when the demand for goods require mass production. Should the demand for goods be less than the scale of manufacturing, the per-part cost increases substantially.
Based on the unprecedented advancement of computer technology, Thermwood Corporation of Dale, Indiana has implemented a new concept and methodology of manufacturing in the present invention. The present invention substantially overcomes the disadvantages stated above yet yields a return that substantially conforms to that of a mass production.
One object of the present invention is to implement a new manufacturing process.
A second object of the present invention is to produce a plurality of parts from a series of work zones on a single worktable.
A third object of the present invention is to conveniently provide manufacturing instructions to an operator.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an efficient method of producing complex parts of a piece of furniture.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide manufacturing instructions through a display and a speaker.
A sixth object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of small order productions.
A seventh object of the present invention is to incorporate all the required skills into a CNC machine thus relieving dependency upon a highly skilled machine operator.
An eighth object of the present invention is to minimize the chances of operator error in a production.